Chapter 10 : Forever Under Chains
1139 Words
The car slowed to a stop in front of the mansion, but Valentina didn’t move. She glued herself to the seat like it was her lifeline.
“No,” she muttered. “I’m not going in there.”
The door on her side opened, one of Lucian’s men reaching toward her.
She snapped before he even got close.
“Don’t touch me. I mean it.”
The man froze, glancing helplessly at Lucian for instructions.
Lucian didn’t look up from his tablet.
“Valentina.”
“No,” she repeated, louder, sharper. “I’m not coming out of this car. I don’t care who you are.”
Another guard stepped in, hesitant.
“If any of you lay a finger on me, I’ll chew it off,” she barked, lifting her bound wrists as far as she could. “I’m not joking.”
Both men stepped back. It was almost comical,the intimidating guards at a complete loss, clearly unwilling to manhandle a woman their boss had brought home as a wife.
Lucian finally closed his tablet.
He stepped out and came to her side.
Valentina pressed herself deeper into the seat. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” he replied calmly.
“Good. Because I’m not moving.”
He leaned forward slightly, eyes unreadable.
“Valentina.”
“I said no.”
He exhaled—quiet, resigned, like someone realizing they would have to handle things personally.
Before she could blink, he slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, lifting her effortlessly from the seat.
“HEY! HEY—Lucian! What—?! Let go!” Her voice cracked from how fast the words were spilling out. “Put me down! I mean it!”
She thrashed wildly,kicking and twisting but he didn’t even sway.
“You’re unbelievable!” she yelled. “I said I’m not going in! Are you deaf? Or just—Lucian! Put me down!”
“You’re going to fall if you keep moving,” he said, not even breathless.
“I’d rather fall! I’d rather break every bone than—stop carrying me like a bag of rice!”
He didn’t answer. Just kept walking.
Past the guards, who suddenly found the sky and floor very interesting.
Into the mansion with its too-bright chandeliers and too-wide halls.
Her voice echoed embarrassingly loud.
“PUT ME DOWN! I’m not staying here! I’m not your—”
“Valentina.”
“What?!”
“Be calm.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she snapped, kicking again out of pure spite. “You can’t just kidnap me and then tell me to calm down!”
He didn’t respond, just kept walking steadily—up the stairs, down a long hallway—never loosening his hold.
By the time he pushed open a door and carried her into a bedroom, her breaths were coming fast from frustration and all the blood rushing to her head.
She was still wriggling like a furious worm when he dropped her onto the bed.
Her hair was a tangled mess, her wrists still bound, and her pride somewhere back in the car.
Lucian stepped back, expression as flat as stone.
“This will be your room,” he said quietly.
Valentina shot daggers at him.
“I hope you trip on the stairs on your way out.”
A twitch touched the corner of his mouth,barely there.
He turned to leave.
But Valentina’s rage snapped again.
“HEY! Do you feel like a man now?! Since you kidnapped me and dragged me here? I swear I’ll escape and report you to the authorities!”
Lucian stopped. Slowly turned back. A smirk curled on his lips as he took a step toward her.
Her boldness evaporated instantly. Valentina scooted back on the bed, bound wrists trembling slightly.
When he reached her, the smirk vanished. He looked dangerous—deeply, quietly dangerous.
“I am the authorities,” he said.
The words settled on her chest like a weight. Heavy. True. Unavoidable.
But she wasn’t about to lie down and accept it.
She forced her gaze up, meeting his eyes head-on.
“You can bind me all you want, but I’ll never obediently be your wife.”
“All you have to do is earn your freedom in three months.”
Valentina scoffed.
“Why do you get to decide that? Why can’t I live how I want? Why can’t I marry who I want? I don’t want my freedom dictated to me!”
Her voice cracked. Tears welled, stinging her eyes.
“I want to marry who I want. Be who I want. F*cking sleep with who I want!”
Lucian’s jaw flexed the moment the words left her mouth.
F*cking sleep with who I want.
He moved so fast she didn’t even have time to flinch. His hand closed around her jaw again, not painfully, just firmly enough that she knew she had crossed a line no one else in his world would dare approach.
“Say that again,” he said, his voice dangerously low.
Valentina lifted her chin despite the tremor in her breath. “You heard me.”
His eyes darkened, not with anger alone, but something sharper… almost feral.
He laughed once,dry and unamused.
“I see.”
He leaned in just enough that she could feel the cold heat of his breath against her cheek.
“I never wanted to imprison you,” he murmured. “I only wanted a distraction. Something… amusing.”
His thumb brushed the corner of her lip, slow and deliberate, as if he were memorizing the shape of her defiance.
“But since you’ve made it clear you think you can use your body however you want—”
His voice dropped further, a dark promise.
“—I’ll make sure you never get the chance.”
Her heartbeat stuttered painfully.
Lucian straightened, letting her jaw go.
“You wanted freedom?” His tone hardened into iron.
“And I told you to earn it.”
He stepped back, gaze raking over her one last time.
“But hear me clearly, Valentina.”
Each word fell with the weight of a verdict.
“I don’t share. Not your time. Not your freedom.”
A pause.
“And certainly not your body.”
He turned toward the door.
“We’re getting married tomorrow.”
His hand pushed the door open.
“And congratulations.”
He didn’t look back.
“You’ve earned yourself forever under my chains.”
The door shut behind him.
And for the first time that night, she felt truly trapped.
Valentina broke instantly curling into herself, hugging her knees tight.
Her sobs filled the room, raw and helpless, swallowing the last bits of her strength.
- Writer
